Component & String Effects on Fractions

Children were expected to be more affected than adults. ### Data Collection We tested 37 fifth-grade students (age 11) and 34 college students (age 20) using fraction comparison tasks with different and same string lengths.

Accuracy and response times were recorded. ### Key Findings 1. **Bias and Influence**: Both children and adults exhibited whole number bias, influenced by both component size and string length. 2. **Age Differences**: Children were more affected by component size than adults. 3. **String Length Effect**: String length amplified the whole number bias, as shown by greater response time bias in different string length tasks. ### Interpretation and Implications The findings suggest that fraction processing is affected by component size and string length, with string length exacerbating the whole number bias.